Chapter 27

Edited by Old Rotorhead

On the morning after Jake and Hermione had arrived back in Bristol, Lydia and Hermione discussed the situation with all the children, and of course, Ursula.

“I have no idea,” Lydia began, “whether those girls have been christened. I suppose they probably have, since they were living in a nunnery, but you cannot be too sure. I’m sure the Romans are Christians, but the way those girls have been treated leaves that open to doubt.”

Hermione nodded in agreement.

“We’ve no idea where they came from, I suppose?” asked Hermione.

“Nobody knows,” said Lydia. “The girls have no idea. I asked them about christening, but they didn’t know about that either. Mairead said they had to confess their sins to a priest every week. He apparently sat them on his knee, and I was appalled at what she told me happened then. What sins little girls like that could have committed is beyond me to imagine, but that priest must have had a very long list,” she shuddered, and went on. “I propose that they should be christened into the Church of England. I thought they could have Russington-White as their surname, since you and Jake will be responsible for them. Jake will have to approve that, of course. They should have second names too, I think. Perhaps they would like to choose their own.”

“That’s a good idea. I wouldn’t expect Jake to object, he seems very taken with them,” said Hermione. “He loves his own children, and I’m sure he will love the girls too. But are you sure you don’t want Underwood-White?”

“Hermione, I didn’t have a particularly happy marriage, and the name is not something I am particularly fond of. I’m sure you’re right about Jake, he does love the children,” Lydia told her. “Now, what about Ursula?” she went on. “She has always been very good, but now I think she could do better than housemaid. Do you suppose she could fulfil the position of governess?”

“I would think so,” replied Hermione, thoughtfully. “As I said, I knew her at school and we got along very well. It seems her mother had died some years before we met, and her father, who had remarried, died during one of the school holidays. Her stepmother promptly kicked her out. She didn’t come directly here, I believe she had two other positions, but she was expected to perform certain tasks that she didn’t want to do ... shall we say they were things that the wives preferred not to do. I know some maids are forced to do that.”

Lydia pursed her lips in memory. “Not in this house,” she said, rather enigmatically. “Yes, I knew she had had two other positions, but not why she left. Well let’s send for her and see what she has to say.”

Ursula was a little wary to start with, but once the situation had been fully explained she agreed that she would take up the position.

“I’m not sure how far you would want their education taken,” she told them. “I am not really educated beyond the kind of things that would normally be expected of ... a lady.”

“And as you know,” laughed Hermione, “that is the extent of my formal education.”

“Mine too,” said Lydia. “That is what we would want initially, good manners and knowing right from wrong. Start them reading and figuring. But either they will go to a suitable school, or we will engage a tutor for them. There is a limit to how far girls can go in this life,” she sighed. “They cannot, for instance, go to university. But we will want them taken that far, and then whatever they are interested in, they will be encouraged to do. I have already seen my own girls rise to a challenge, and there are others as you know. Indeed, should you wish to take your own education further we will be happy to assist.”

After Ursula had left, Lydia turned to Hermione.

“And now,” she sighed, “I’ve to get another maid and train her to my liking.”

On a fine sunday morning just two weeks after the decision had been made, the four girls, perfectly dressed in white, were christened. And so the family acquired Mairead Lydia, Aisling Victoria, Clodagh Angelica and Aoife Hermione, and with Jake’s permission they were all Russington-Whites. All the girls had apparently chosen their second names, but there was a suspicion that Mairead had made the allocation. By this time, having been treated with kindness and being well fed, their good behaviour had changed from being motivated by fear, to a desire to repay the kindness. There were the occasional slips, of course, they were not perfect, but these were merely accepted with an explanation of what was wrong. Lydia delighted in all the children and often went out with them and Ursula.

Hermione was enjoying her work helping with the running the Wraxall estate. As she had admitted, her education had only prepared her for the life of a lady, and there was little use for those skills. She was, however, rapidly acquiring the knowledge, and particularly the arithmetic to enable her to be a valuable partner in the venture. This, of course, did not take up all her time, and whilst she devoted some to assisting Victoria, she also wanted to know more about the core business from which everything else had been built. Jake was very happy with this idea.

Initially she had a conducted tour of the chandlery with Dennis, getting a thorough grounding in what was stocked and where it came from. Likewise with the wholesale grocery business. There were also explanations of how the shipping business worked, how ships were financed, insured and provisioned, and, of course, how cargoes were found for them.

Angelica took Hermione out with her to visit a ship that was newly arrived. Hermione had, of course, visited the harbour before, but that was to travel on one of the schooners. Now she had time to take in the atmosphere and the sights of the docks. Hermione could see that Angelica knew a lot of people, the men who doffed their caps to her and wished her a good morning, and the women who clearly respected her, greeting her by name.

“They all seem to know you,” she commented to Angelica.

“I suppose they do,” replied Angelica. “They’re all just trying to earn a living, and I help where I can.”

She stopped and greeted a woman.

“Hello Ruby,” she said. “How are things today?”

“Business is pretty brisk this morning, thank you Miss Angelica,” Ruby replied.

They walked on.

“What business is that?” asked Hermione.

“She’s a prostitute,” Angelica replied.

“And you talk to her?” asked Hermione sounded horrified.

Angelica stopped and turned towards her.

“She’s a woman. Just the same as us,” she said. “She’s just not as lucky as we are, so she sells what she has. Caroline and Victoria always talked to the women, and if Ruby had said business was bad I’d have given her sixpence so she could have a drink. They’re just people, Hermione, and I’m not going to walk around these docks and make out I’m better than they are. Because I’m not. Before I became Jake’s ward I tried to sell myself, because I’d had nothing to eat for days. I was so dirty a man turned his nose up at me. I was lucky, because Sarah found me and took me to Caroline. Jake made me his ward, and I became Caroline’s assistant. So I’m still inexperienced in that aspect of life. And I’m very glad. But I can help these women just a little bit, and treating them as people is little enough to do.”

They walked on in silence for a few minutes.

“I’m sorry,” said Hermione. “I had no idea.”

“No more you should,” replied Angelica. “Here we are, the ‘Glenfiddich’.“

They made their way up the gangway on to the deck. The hatch covers were off and there was general chaos. There were dockers starting to unload the cargo, several of them greeted ‘Miss Angelica’. They turned towards the stern where a man, who was obviously the captain, was standing.

“Captain Porter?” Angelica enquired.

“Aye Miss,” replied the captain, “that’s me. How can I help you?”

“I am Miss Angelica Grey and I represent Underwood’s Chandlery and Victuallers. This is my assistant Miss Russington. So it is more a question of how can we help you, Captain.”

Captain Porter laughed. “I’d been told that there was a Siren here in Bristol to trap poor sailormen and part them from their money!” he told them. “And now there’s two of you! I’ll be paying off the crew, but I expect most of them will stay, so we will need some things. We’d better talk to the mate and the cook, and see what we need. There’ll be a good deal of articles too, I’m sure, before we leave.”

An hour later they left the ship with a considerable order, and the promise of more to come.

“I’ve never been Miss Russington before,” remarked Hermione.

“I could hardly introduce you as Lady Russington,” Angelica laughed. “What would the captain have made of that!”

Hermione laughed.

As they walked back towards the offices, a woman, dressed rather better than others they had seen, came out of a side alley and turned towards them.

“Good morning, Sarah,” Angelica greeted the woman. “How are you?”

“Very well, thank you, Angelica,” said Sarah.

“This is Lady Russington, Sarah, Jake’s betrothed,” Angelica said, then turned to Hermione. “This is Sarah who saved me from a fate worse than death,” Angelica laughed. “She’s the wife of Tom and Jerry ‘Moonfleet’s’ mate and cox’n.”

Sarah was naturally rather flustered and tongue tied. A woman in her position was not normally introduced to a Lady.

“I’m pleased to meet you,” said Hermione. “ I have cause to be grateful to your ... husbands. Tom is the only man besides Jake to have manhandled me!”

“Oh dear, your ladyship. I hope...”

“No, no, Sarah. He was hauling me back on board after Jake had rescued me,” Hermione laughed. “I was very grateful.”

Their conversation continued for a few minutes, and then they left Sarah and walked on to the office.

“She seemed very pleasant,” Hermione told Angelica.

“Do I need to tell you her profession when she rescued me?” asked Angelica.

“Oh!” was the reply.

Much later that day, after the house had quietened for the night, Hermione crept into Jake’s room.

“Ah! A temptress, come to seduce me,” Jake laughed.

“Much good it’s done me so far,” Hermione replied.

“You’re only missing one part of it,” said Jake.

“And that is the part I want!” said Hermione taking hold him. “I met women today who are quite used to getting it.”

“Angelica took you to the ‘Glenfiddich’ I believe. And you met some of the ladies from the docks.”

“I’m not sure about ladies, but I met Ruby.”

“I don’t think I know her,” said Jake.

“I should hope not! Well, not in a biblical sense anyway. Then I met Sarah. What are you doing?”

“I just thought I’d get started.”

“Well ... mmm, just a bit ... mmm. Anyway, she seemed really nice ... oh, yesss.”

“And that’s a problem?”

“I’ve never met ... ah! women like them before, well ... mmm, Sarah’s respectable now, and ... ooh ooh! They’re...”

“Just people?”

“Mmmm.”

And that was the end of the conversation; a lady shouldn’t talk with her mouth full.

Mary had thoroughly enjoyed being pampered and dressed in several of Bea’s dresses, just to see what she would look like. With her hair done and make up applied she looked every inch a young lady, but unfortunately neither her speech patterns nor her accent matched the appearance. They had a fun afternoon, and Bea sent Mary home in one of her dresses so that she could show her grandmother.

At dinner Bea mentioned to her aunt that Mary would make a great model for Victoria’s fashion show.

“You are probably correct,” her aunt told her. “But think about it Beatrice. Mary is just a simple country girl, would you really be doing her any favours by making her into something she isn’t? Her grandmother relies upon her too.”

Bea had to admit that her aunt was most likely correct. So when she left Wraxall a week later she did so with just her maid Amanda. But before she left she gave Mary her riding dress. As soon as she was back in Bristol she was going to have a black outfit like Hermione’s made for her, top hat included. She knew just how good she looked in it. She’d have to work out how Fitz could see her wearing it.

Her father met them at the station in London, and together they caught the Bristol express from Paddington. By the time they arrived in Bristol, Bea had persuaded her father to buy her a horse so that she could continue with her riding. She suggested a hunter; her father thought a quiet mare. He knew he would probably lose the argument, as he usually did. He finally suggested that the best person to help was Jake’s man, Jonathon. He didn’t think about the fact that Jonathon was probably just as susceptible to the wiles of a pretty blonde girl as her father was.

But before she could do anything else she had a lot of work to do for Victoria’s fashion show, and time was running short.

The run up to Victoria’s show was one long round of trying to get everything ready. The models had to be fitted with their dresses, the running order had to be decided, the objections, sulks and tantrums of the designers dealt with, Victoria had to write and learn her script, issue invitations and ... the list went on and on. Why, she wondered, had she not employed an assistant? She most certainly would once this was over.

The morning of the show was fine and everything proceeded according to plan. Lady Bridget, Hermione and Bea were greeting the guests and getting them seated. Maria had come over from Dublin, and Iona from Aberystwyth, both interested to see what they would be selling next. And then the show began. There were plenty of oohs and ahs, applause, and then there was the bride, in this case Bea, and her four flower girls, who simply delighted the audience. After the show there was a great deal of business to be done, and at the end an immense amount of clearing up to be done too.

Victoria was relaxing in her office when Peter came in.

“Successful show?” he asked

“Yes, very. I think we’ve more work than we can cope with, and big buyers from London stores are very interested,” she told him. “I think I’ll have to expand the workshop.”

“Can you afford it?”

“Jake says there should be no problem.”

“Excellent. So now we can get married.”

Victoria got up and came round her desk. She put her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss.

“It’s all set for a fortnight’s time,” she told him when she let him go. “By then I will have everything ready for the business to manage without me, and we can take a week off.” She rubbed up against him. “I don’t think you’ll be able to cope with more than that.”

She broke away from him, laughing. “Now, have a drink.”

Hermione was spending some time at Wraxall, much to her mother’s delight. Sometimes Jake would be there, and sometimes she was on her own. They had decided that they would appoint Martin Clegg’s son David to manage the farm, with some help from his father when it was required. The younger Clegg was enthusiastic about the latest ideas in animal breeding, and communicated his enthusiasm to Hermione.

“It’s the quality of the bull,” he told her. “then you select the best offspring, and keep going like that. It applies to all animals. You select the traits you want, milk production or beef, although some breeds are better for one than the other. If you just keep the same bull and allow it to mate with his offspring, then you will get poorer quality. It’s called hybridisation, and it applies to plants too.”

“Does it apply to people?” Hermione asked.

“Umm, I suppose so ... yes,” David replied. “There are people who believe that anyway.”

“I can believe it when I think of some of the young men I have met,” replied Hermione with a chuckle. “What was it you said, not properly hybridised? Seems to apply to a lot of the upper classes.”

They were buying the best cattle and pigs that were available locally, but all of it was pretty average, though adequate to get things started.

It was on Hermione’s second trip to Wraxall that David Clegg showed her a trade periodical that was advertising a herd of cattle that were for sale by auction.

“According to the description they are exactly what we need,” said Hermione. “When is the auction? Oh yes, three days time. No time to waste then.”

“Indeed,” replied David, “the problem is, m’lady, that they are in Devon, how on earth would we get them here. It’s a long way to drive them.”

“They’ll get here the same way as we’ll get there,” said Hermione. “By train.”

“Oh! Can we do that?” David was rather dubious.

“Of course. If there is one thing I have learnt about business, Mr Clegg,” said Hermione. “It is that when an opportunity presents itself, you seize it and run with it. The cost of you and me going to see these animals is negligable. If they are the right ones, then they will pay for themselves over and over.”

“Yes, my lady. When shall we go?” David still seemed a little hesitant.

“There is a train just after lunch. We will be in London in time for dinner, and then in the morning we will take an express for Bristol. I will write to Sir Jacob to meet us, and accompany us to see the animals if he wants.”

“Yes, m’lady. I believe we have to move the animals almost immediately. That could be a problem.”

“No, I think not. The Great Western Railway will, I am sure, be able to cope,” replied Hermione. “We will notify them of our intentions. I’m sure that if we do not secure the animals someone else will want to move them, so they should be ready. You’d better pack your bag.”

Everything went as Hermione had said. David was rather nervous in the company of his employer, and was glad when Jake met them in Bristol the following morning. He had with him some additional luggage and one of the new maids, Susan, who would act as Hermione’s lady’s maid.

Jake told them that he would leave the business to them, since he had things to do in Bristol. This wasn’t entirely true since he could leave the business whenever he needed, but he felt that this was Hermione’s introduction to business and he was sure that she would cope admirably. Whilst Hermione was visiting the ladies room David spoke to Jake.

“The herd looks right on paper, Sir Jacob, but what if they are not as described?” he asked.

“Then you will know not to buy them, David,” said Jake. “It is as simple as that. Do not worry, if you do not think we should buy them, then Lady Russington will accept your opinion. If they are as good as this advertisement suggests, it will advance our plans a lot.”

Hermione left Bristol with Susan, and David Clegg on the next express to the west. The train stopped at Exeter, and then went along the Ex estuary that Jake had sailed up on that morning some ten or a dozen years before. The line then followed the spectacular coastal route through Dawlish to the next stop at Newton Abbot. Here they obtained rooms at the Station Hotel.

Once they had settled in, Hermione and David went to find the offices of the surveyors who were handling the sale. It turned out to be a short walk to the offices of Messrs Spenlow and Jorkins. The front door was below a fascia proclaiming them to be Surveyors, Valuers and Auctioneers. They entered and were greeted by a young man. Almost as soon as Hermione had announced them and their business they were conducted through to the private office of Mr Spenlow.

Mr Spenlow was of medium height with a rotund middle showing rather too many large lunches, a shiny pate above a surprisingly youthful face with a ruddy complexion. He had a lugubrious manner and reminded Hermione of her late ‘Uncle’ Tim. She suppressed a shudder at the memory, but she felt she would not take to Mr Spenlow. She explained their interest.

“Ah! Your ladyship has great taste! You have picked out the finest available herd of White Park cattle that can be found anywhere,” he assured them. “His Lordship was very fond of them and carefully selected them to make sure that he had the best traits. They are, as I’m sure you know a triple use breed, fine dairy cows, superb beef and excellent draught animals.”

“Why is he selling them?” asked Hermione.

“Alas!” exclaimed Mr Spenlow. “His lordship was killed when he fell from his horse. He was an enthusiastic huntsman, Master of the local hounds. Foolishly bet he could jump a rather high wall. The horse stopped dead, but his lordship did not. His nephew has inherited, but there are unfortunately a number of debts that need to be settled. Losing bets seems to be a family habit.”

He went on to suggest that his assistant would be able to take them to see the cattle in the morning. They would then be able to attend the auction the following morning in the function room at the Station Hotel.

Hermione thanked him and agreed a time for the following morning. They then returned to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

Lord and Lady Kingswood. It sounded wonderful to Victoria. It wasn’t the title, she would have been just as happy – well, almost, if she was honest - for it to be Mr and Mrs Hatherley. The wedding had been in their local church with just family and friends attending to wish them well. Of course they had four little flower girls looked after by one bigger one, who went on to take the photographs. And now she was on honeymoon with her husband, the first real break from business that she had ever had, felt just so right.

On Jake’s recommendation Peter and Victoria decided that touring Wales, or at least following the route that he had taken would make an excellent honeymoon. Now, however, there was a better rail coverage. The Manchester and Milford railway had connected at its southern end to Carmarthen and to Aberystwyth at the northern. This was a welcome change for the citizens of Aberystwyth, the original route across the mountains to link with the Cambrian Railway at Llaniloes having proved too expensive. This meant that the only coach they would need would be for a detour to Aberaeron to stay at Myfanwy’s mother’s hotel for a couple of days. They could then retrace their steps to the railway at Lampeter, and proceed to Aberystwyth where they would meet with the Evans. It was arranged for one of the schooners to call in to pick them up from there.

Unlike Jake, who had crossed the Bristol channel by boat, they had travelled from Bristol to Gloucester where they spent the first night. When they retired for the night Victoria was careful not to allow her sexual experience to show too much. Time would allow her to develop that side of the relationship. She had every intention of training her new husband to satisfy her every desire, providing him with similar pleasure of course. But the best laid plans...

“Victoria dearest,” Peter began as they cuddled together and settled down to sleep. “You know what my profession is, apart from being a bank director that is.”

“Of course,” said Victoria, sleepily. “you work at the Home Office.”

“There is a little more to it than that, as you well know from Jake,” Peter went on. “I didn’t find him by accident, it is my job to know everything that goes on in the kingdom. Or as much as I can.”

Victoria was now wide awake.

“You will understand that when I asked Jake to do a little job for me, I went deeper into his family connections. So I probably know more about you than you might like, but necessary in case you were used by enemies of the state to thwart my plans. You could also have been a threat to Jake.”

“Oh! Never that,” said Victoria. “I love Jake.”

“I know. But never the less if you were indiscreet...”

“Oh.”

“And then I met you, and I started to get to know you, and you were so kind to Beatrice, and I came to love you.” Peter went on. “What I am trying to say, my love, is that if you hold yourself back, it is rather like trying to keep secrets from me. And I do not want us to have secrets from one another.”

Victoria turned and kissed him.

“I love you, Peter Hatherley, and I shall be every man’s ideal woman for you,” she said.

Now fully awake, she threw back the bed clothes, and went down to see if she could revive him. When she had succeeded she manoeuvred over him and dropped down. She looked him in the eyes.

“And I’ll be a lady outside the bedroom,” she said with a grin.

The next day they went on by train, crossing what was at that point the Severn estuary by bridge and then the train turned along the river bank, past the imperceptible change point to the northern shore of the Bristol channel, eventually arriving at Cardiff where they spent the second night. Approaching Cardiff there had been much evidence of industry, but the next day there was a great deal more until they reached Swansea, known as ‘Copperopolis’ for its major export. From there it was rural until they reached Carmarthen for their third night. They relaxed the next day before continuing their journey to Lampeter where they broke their railway journey and stayed the night. The following morning they found a carriage to take them to Aberaeron.

After Victoria’s fashion show Myfanwy had taken the opportunity to take a few days to visit her mother. She had brought Josephine with her which had caused a sensation, almost no one in the little town had ever seen a black person before. Mrs Davies took to Josephine immediately, and treated her like another daughter. Being daughters of the house meant that both girls helped out with both cooking and waitressing, and were having a lot of fun. So when the honeymooners arrived at her mother’s hotel they were not only expected, but fétèd. Myfanwy’s mother had reserved the best room for them, and, as always, she produced superb local foods, but with Josephine in the kitchen there were one or two exotic additions. Surprisingly, these seemed to be much appreciated by the local diners.

After two days, Peter and Victoria were sad to leave in one way, but in another they knew that if they stayed any longer, they would need new wardrobes. Mrs Davies’s cooking was without doubt superb, but ... relentless. There was only a trap to drive them back to Lampeter, but the weather was fair, and the scenery superb. From there the railway took them to Aberystwyth.

Ioan Evans met them from the train. He had secured a boy with a handcart to take their trunks to their hotel. He greeted them enthusiastically.

“We are very pleased you have come here. You are invited to dinner this evening,” he told them. “There will be one or two local dignitaries attending...” he shrugged. “So few people of any consequence come here.”

Before they left the station Peter headed for the telegraph office to see if there were any communications from his office. He returned a few minutes later with a dark expression on his face.

“You look as though you have a problem,” said Victoria.

“Yes. I’m afraid I have to return to London,” he said.

“Immediately?” asked Victoria.

“I’ll leave in the morning. You’ll be picked up by one of the schooners in a couple of days,” Peter told her. “I really am sorry about this, but I assure you it cannot be helped.”

“Of course, I understand,” said Victoria. “I shall be fine.”

Whilst her parents were gone Beatrice was at a loose end. She had little to do at Victoria’s Secrets, and she had few friends. Most young women’s mothers feeling, perhaps rightly, although not for the right reasons, that she would be a bad influence on their daughters. However, her father had promised her a horse, suggesting that the man to see was Jonathon, Jake’s stable manager. He had said no more about this, and she assumed he had been too busy to get around to seeing him. Bea had never met Jonathon, and she decided that the first thing to do was visit Jake. And so, on the morning after her father and new stepmother had left on their honeymoon, she was up bright and early and set off to call on Jake.

She found Jake in his office. He greeted her with a big grin.

“I was expecting you,” he told her.

“You were? Why?”

“Because your father said that as soon as he left you would be asking me if you could visit Jonathon to ask if he could find you a horse.”

“Oh!” Bea exclaimed. “I suppose that he told you to make sure that I had a broken down old nag.”

She managed to force a tear to roll down her cheek.

“No, he didn’t.” replied Jake. “He was concerned that Jonathon might not be able to stand up to your wiles. You have to remember his background. And you can stop the tears, I’m immune,” he laughed.

Bea stamped her foot.

“You men are always conspiring to hold women down.”

“And women don’t conspire against men? You know that isn’t true in this family,” said Jake. “Now, I’ve kept this morning free especially for you. I’ll get a cab and we’ll go to the stables.”

“Jonathon!” Jake called to his stable manager as he got out of the cab.

Jonathon turned to him.

“Sir Jacob! Good to see you sir,” Jonathon replied.

“I’ve brought Lady Beatrice with me. She is looking for a horse to ride, and her father suggested to me that you might be able to help,” said Jake.